Education

All You Need To Know About NSDC

Vikas Sudan

- 28-Oct-2020

NSDC aims to develop skills on a large scale by catalyzing and creating institutions of high quality that work for a profit.

The National Skill Development Corporation or NSDC is a non-profit initiative that was established on 31st July 2008 under section 25 of the companies act of 1956. The initiative is a Public-Private Partnership Model (PPP) set up by the Ministry of Finance. NSDC PMKVY is one of the most prominent schemes under the NSDC.

NSDC aims to develop skills on a large scale by catalyzing and creating institutions of high quality that work for a profit. The organization provides funding for building these profitable training institutes. Another aim it has is that it enables support systems that provide quality assurance, training the trainer, and information systems. NSDC is the main catalyst for providing funding to companies, organizations, and enterprises that provide skill training.

AISECT connected with NSDC in 2012, with the objective of training 13 million young people by the year 2020 by providing them with skills training courses. Nine specific sectors were identified for training purposes, namely, IT/ITES, Hardware and Networking, Livelihood & Vocational Training, Banking, Financial Services & Insurance, Agriculture, Teacher's Training, Marketing and Retail, Apparel and Fashion Design Tourism & Hospitality and Beauty & Wellness. This identification was based on which sectors require the most manpower and the strengths of AISECT. Once an individual finds a training center and selects the skill, they can start their training immediately. After completion of their training, they can be employed in the field they have chosen.

There are multiple reasons why there is a shortage of skilled manpower in India.

Rote learning is the focus of the Indian education system, as opposed to learning that would lead to the overall development of the individual.
There is a large number of people who need to be skilled.
Similarly, there is diversity in the kind of skills that need to be honed.
There is also a strong mismatch between the kind of workers available. Over 90% of India’s workforce consists of casual workers, which leads to a shortage of skilled labor. This mismatch needs to be sorted by providing vocational training to the workers.
Having a skilled workforce would result in more productivity as more people would be employed where employment is needed.
The target population for skill training is vast, with people belonging to different educational backgrounds needing to be trained.
There needs to be a change in perception regarding vocational training.
The gender disparities need to be tackled as most of the skills are male-centric, which goes on to encourage the exclusion of women.

Objectives of the AISECT-NSDC partnership:

Expansion of skilling and training facilities especially in the backward areas of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, Maharashtra and Punjab, after which there would be an expansion all across the country.
In order to improve the quality of skill and training, there would be a massive ‘Train the Trainer’ program, where the focus would be on upskilling the trainers by teaching them how to utilize technology.
To utilize the nearly 6,000 Common Service Centres (CSCs) set up by AISECT at the Panchayat Level across Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh & Punjab for skilling youth.
To support the skill development training programs by providing placement services both online and offline to the trained manpower.
To expand and develop the AISECT Content Creation Center as the backbone of the ongoing skill development efforts.